Think about it: If you knew why people say “yes,” don’t you think you could sponsor more people? What is the common denominator among the people who sign up and those who don’t?

The answer? It is their belief. If they believe it, that they will make money in your business, they will sign up. The opposite is also true: if they do not believe they will make money in your business, they won’t sign up!

Think about all the people you have met with who, for one reason or another, did not sign up. Ask yourself one question: Did they believe they would make money with your MLM business? Did they truly believe that within a short time they could be earning $3,000 or $5,000 a month?

No. If they had believed, they would have signed up, wouldn’t they?

Belief comes in at least four areas:
1) Do they believe your MLM opportunity is real — that the company actually pays out money as it says it will?
2) Do they believe your product/service is valid — that people will actually want, purchase, and use it?
3) Do they believe you can help them make money?
4) Do they believe they can make money with your help?

Most of us spend a lot of time on the first two beliefs, but we usually gloss over the last two — helping them believe that you can help them make it work.

Many new people we talk to have either tried Network Marketing and failed, and/or have very little self-confidence. In both cases, new people are hoping this will work for them but mostly relying on you to help them do it.

This is why the belief they establish in your ability is so critical a factor in sponsoring. People want to follow someone who is going somewhere — they want to get on a moving train, not a sinking ship — so the first part of sponsoring people is creating confidence within them that you have the ability to help. Part of this confidence is your “posture” and attitude.  It is this attitude you portray, many times in just the words you use, that convinces your MLM prospects they want to follow you.

The second part is your prospects’ belief that they can do it. It is one thing for me to be confident in your ability to make money and lead me, but it is another thing for me to believe I can do what you ask of me. If you tell me I have to meet ten new people a day and get them interested in my MLM product, I may believe you are a good teacher, but my own fear of meeting people could convince me I could never do it. I do not believe in me.

Beware, also, of killing someone’s belief by making the business too complicated. I remember one MLM company I was representing:

While it was simple to understand the basic structure of the compensation plan, there were many nuances within it that made it very complicated. When I was just starting, I tried to make sure each prospect knew all the ways to make money — and there were more than 5 separate calculations to earn all the money. I didn’t sponsor many people at that time. It was so confusing, my prospects got caught in the details of how to do it and never saw any further. I lost track of keeping it simple and allowing them to focus on the fact that they could do it. People more easily believe they can do a three-step formula than a 50-step formula. Keeping the process simple and creating confidence in you will affect how you discuss the business. 

When I talk to someone for the first time, my conversations go like this…usually they have previewed my website first.

Presentation

There are three broad components to an effective presentation, and if I may, I would like to change the vocabulary from “presentation” to “conversation.”

What’s the difference? A presentation is a one-way communication. It is you talking to your prospects. A presentation is canned and usually only brushes up against your prospects’ real needs. Imagine going to a physician and telling him your leg hurts; instead of asking you questions and figuring out the cause, he gives you a video and says, “Go home, watch this and take two aspirins.” What’s your opinion of that physician? You probably won’t go back to him — you will probably seek another physician who won’t treat you like just another number.

By contrast, a conversation is a two-way communication. You are in dialogue with other people, giving information, getting feedback. With this model, the physician asks about your leg, where it hurts, how long it has been hurting, how bad it hurts, attempts to identify the cause, and prescribes a specific solution. That’s what you want to do with your prospects: talk with them, identify their needs, and give them a specific solution to solve those needs. When you do, they look at you as a friend they can trust and follow, and they will follow you.

So when you meet with prospects, have a conversation with them and share (don’t tell) about your MLM company and MLM opportunity. There are three parts to this conversation for greatest success. The first part is what I call the “pre-conversation.” This is when you build a relationship and identify what your prospects want that your business can provide. The second part is the “main conversation” where you share the details of your company. And the last part is the follow-through, taking your prospects the next step forward.

Pre-Conversation

The “pre-conversation” is probably the most critical part of the entire sponsoring process. Just like with the physician; he or she can’t help you without first discovering what your specific problem is. In the same way, unless you find out what your prospects need, you won’t sponsor them. The need is “why” they will do your business, because face it — very few people you sponsor want to do your business. They don’t want to talk to their friends, talk to strangers, stay up late at night, attend conference calls, make phone calls, and take time away from their family for the heck of it.

So why do they do it? For what they see your business can provide for them. Until you uncover what that is, your chances of sponsoring are very slim.

The why is usually uncovered as a “want” or a “wish.” For example, if in a “pre-conversation” you learn from Joe and Sue that both of them work and they have small children, you might ask, “Who keeps your children while you are both at work?” Let’s say you find out it’s a daycare center. They love their two small children, and it pains them to use daycare. They wish they could afford one of them staying home with the kids.

Once you uncover this pain, or why, your next step is to put a price tag on it to put it in perspective. With Joe and Sue, you might ask, “How much extra income would you need for one of you to leave work and stay home with the children?” Typically they will look at each other and come to some number. And for most people, it is less than $1,000 a month! That’s all. And that is exactly how you express it: “Oh, is that all? I can show you how to do that in just a few months!”

Don’t stop at just one why. Keep probing during the conversation and come up with another one or two. The key is to find strong ones. Not “I want a new TV.” You want to find those things that will cause a man or woman to leave the comfort of home and work extra hours in order to accomplish them.

The focus of the pre-conversation is to establish a relationship. While this could be a whole article in itself, and all kinds of books have been written about it (one of my favorites is “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie), here are just a few basic pointers: People do business more readily with friends than with strangers, and friendships are born of common ties.

Establish as many common bonds as possible. Do they have children? Do you? Then tell them about yours and ask about theirs. Are they in the engineering field? Share about your engineering experience — or that of a friend or family member close by with similar experience. Do they like sports? Relate to that, too. Even if the bonds are weak individually, the sum of the parts lays the foundation for a relationship to occur.

Main Conversation

After the pre-conversation, you can begin to describe your MLM company and compensation plan. This is when you link your MLM business as the solution to their needs. Without a clear link between these two, your chances of sponsoring are low.

Your focal point must be how you can meet their needs. A good transitioning statement between the pre-conversation and the main conversation may be something such as, “If you were sincere about making it possible for one of you to stay home with the children, let me show you how you could achieve that within the next three to six months. If you could do that, would that be of interest?”

Now begin your normal “presentation,” except convert it to a conversation. How? Just ask questions! When you ask questions, your prospects give you full attention, listen to what you have asked, assimilate what you are sharing, and form a conclusion so they can respond appropriately. Isn’t that really what you want — them thinking about what you are sharing with them?

Questions help move your prospects to the point of signing up with you. If asked properly, your questions prompt your prospects to convince themselves that the opportunity you are offering is real and will work for them.

Here’s an example. Instead of saying to Joe and Sue, “An extra $3,000 a month would make a big difference in your life,” ask it, “Would an extra $3,000 a month make a big difference in your life?” The only answer is “yes.” The more times you can get your prospects answering “yes” to your questions, the more likely they are to sign up in the end.

Again, don’t stop at just one question. Ask your questions constantly, and the more questions you ask the more they have to respond. This two-way communication converts your presentation to a conversation. As you explain your business and show the different amounts of money being earned, always stop and relate it back to their needs: “At this point, after just six weeks, you could be earning an extra $500 a month. Do you realize that is halfway to bringing one of you home from work to keep the kids? It would be pretty exciting if you could do it that quickly, wouldn’t you agree?”

Then take your prospects to the next level.

You show them how three months out, or however long you feel is reasonable in your program considering the time they can invest, the money could be as much as $1,000 a month, so ask another question. “Now, after just three months of working this on the side, do you see how you could be earning an extra $1,000 a month? If this happened to the two of you, would one of you begin considering leaving your job to stay home with the kids? Obviously something like this won’t happen without time and effort, so let me ask you, if you knew this income would happen for you, is this important enough to put in an extra 10 to 15 hours a week for the next three months to make it happen?”

Do you see what you can do with questions? By asking the right questions and getting them to participate in your conversation, your prospects will convince themselves they want to do your business and are willing to put forth the work. You didn’t tell them anything — you just asked questions! Believe me, if you explain your MLM business to prospects and never take the time to ask questions, when it comes time for the final question, “do you want to get involved?” most will say no.

The Equation

I’d like to share with you an “equation” that might prove useful to you as a guide for your questioning. What is the ultimate objective you want to accomplish with your prospects? It is not making sure they understand your MLM business or MLM product. It is not their understanding how the money works. Sure, all of that is important, but the ultimate objective is the single equation, “this business = my dreams.”

If at the end of your visit, the only thing your prospects remember is the message “this business = my dreams,” then you will sponsor close to 100 percent! Always remember: Your prospects do not get in business for you. They do not get in business for fun. They do not get in business because they want money. Your prospects get in your business because they have needs (dreams) they want solved, and they see your business as a way to earn the money to solve those needs.

Follow-Through

Follow-through is a natural extension of the pre-conversation and the main conversation — it’s time to get your prospects started.

The follow-through begins at the end of the conversation. After I finish showing Joe and Sue how they can make money and how that money can help them get their dreams, I may ask a “which” question: “Which way do you see yourself becoming involved — as a customer to save money or as a business partner to earn enough money to do those things we’ve been talking about?”

The follow-through is where you take the lead. You must be confident — assume your prospects want to get involved and follow you.  If you assume they will not be interested, they will pick up on that, feel something is wrong (because you feel something is wrong) and probably won’t get involved. So be the confident leader they want you to be.

By following these simple methods, you can sponsor 85-90 percent of everyone with whom you share your MLM business. Of course, it’s worth noting, it won’t happen overnight. It is one thing to know how a master craftsman does his work, it is another thing to become a master craftsman. In the same way, just knowing how to effectively sponsor people doesn’t mean you will change your sponsoring in the next 24 hours. It takes practice. While these are the techniques, there is a “finesse” that can’t be put into words. It is this finesse, the sincerity in your actions, the belief in your eyes, the reading of your prospects’ body language, and others that make it all work. This is where you begin to build the incredible residual income you desire.

Tags: believe it, incredible residual, MLM business, MLM Company, MLM opportunity, MLM product, MLM prospects, Network Marketing, sponsor

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